Many times, people who suffer with sleep problems or sleep disorders are not aware of why they feel so run down, tired and have no energy. Sleep problems can be difficult for people to understand and talking about them or accurately describing them in a doctor’s visit can be difficult. When patients feel drained, exhausted and unable to focus even after going to bed at a reasonable hour, a sleep study can help shed light on what is going on when they go to bed and help them solve their issues.
What Is a Sleep Study?
Because people are not aware of how they move and their breathing patterns while they sleep, getting an accurate picture of sleep quantity and quality is difficult without a study. A sleep study gives doctors a way to measure how much and how well you sleep as well as reveal sleep problems and their severity.
During the study, patients will sleep in a room that looks and feels a lot like a hotel room. While they sleep, electrodes will be attached to the patient’s scalp, face, chest, limbs and a finger. These sensors will monitor and record brain activity, eye movements, heart rhythm and rate, blood pressure and the oxygen level in the blood. Placed around the chest and abdomen, elastic bands will measure the strength and duration on inhaled and exhaled breaths as well as the chest movements. Wires are attached to the sensors and bands transmit the data to a computer that can aggregate the data to give doctors the information they are looking for.
What Can A Sleep Study Show?
Results from a sleep study can reveal sleep patterns or problems that can help doctors diagnose sleep disorders. Results from a study can reveal:
- Breathing disorders related to sleep such as sleep apnea
- Narcolepsy
- Sleep related seizure disorders
- REM and Non REM sleep patterns
- Snoring
- Sinus problems that lead to disrupted sleep
Based on the results shown from the study, your doctor can diagnose sleep problems and help you come up with a treatment plan to correct your troubled sleep. Treatment plans may include special sleep conditions, machines such as CPAP machines for treating sleep apnea, medications or other adjustments that will help you get the rest you need to be healthy, vibrant and energized.
If you or someone you love is having difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or feeling well rested after a night of sleep, a sleep study can help you get to the bottom of your problems.
Talk with your doctor today and see if a sleep study is right for you. Finding out what happens when you go to sleep can shed a lot of light on the quality and amount of sleep you are actually getting. When you get the real picture of what goes on while you are resting, it may surprise you to see just how fitful and interrupted your sleep really is.